Workshop & Instructor Information

Sue Rasmussen

A fun and relaxed class for those who have dabbled with some machine quilting and who want to go beyond just quilting ‘in the ditch’, stippling or outline quilting. After a short review of needles and threads, we take off from each student’s personal experience and level, working individually to finesse your stitch length, speed, control, tension issues and smooth quilt lines. The emphasis is free-motion unmarked quilting, and to understand ‘where to go next’, to perfect your hand/eye/foot coordination by practicing a huge variety of designs, such as leaves, vines, flowers, and overall background designs. Here’s the opportunity to experiment with your fancy, metallic, and variegated threads. By the last day, students will be quilting beautiful, free form unmarked feathers.

Confidence and knowledge are the keys to quality machine work. Students may choose to work on a whole cloth or a small quilt towards the end of the class. Students will have plenty of individual instruction to focus on their particular concerns and challenges of machine quilting. In addition, we will discuss all aspects of quilting-making which affect your machine quilting: marking, fabric testing, washing, battings and their properties, basting, binding and blocking.

Sue says her favorite aspects of teaching are the interaction with each student, sharing her knowledge of quilting and the delight of watching students' faces light up in her class. "There is nothing more gratifying than seeing quilts from my students who are employing one of my techniques or ideas, and have continued to grow as quilters because of something they learned in my class!"

Sue has degrees in Textile Sciences and Agricultural Economics from University of California, Davis and has produced an extensive and varied body of work, many of which are nationally exhibited.